This invention relates to infant pacifiers, and more particularly concerns a pacifier adapted to deliver medication or nutritional substances to infants through a sucking action.
Pacifiers are made according to various types and are usually nipple-shaped. They are used to appease crying children or to discourage thumb-sucking and other idiosyncrasies. Very often the pacifier is dipped in honey, syrup, or topical oral medication to tranquilize the infant. Unfortunately, the effect is only short-lived, for the dipped coating is rapidly diluted by saliva, and the pacifier has to be dipped repeatedly.
It is generally difficult to orally administer to babies and infants medicines or vitamins, particularly those having unpleasant taste or aroma. Various container type porous and non-porous pacifiers have been disclosed in the prior art which provide containment and delivery means for medication or nutritious substances. For example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,889,829; 4,192,307; 2,612,165; and 2,824,561 disclose numerous embodiments of pacifiers characterized by having perforated or microporous hollow nipples and containment means for viscous liquid medications or nutrients. The liquid is dispensed from said containment means and drawn through the nipple by the suckling of the infant.
Such pacifiers, although adapted for the administration of medicines generally in liquid form, do not provide for the accurate measuring of the dosage of such medicines. Furthermore, the filling of the containment reservoir is often difficult, and spillage and waste of medicine occurs. Some medications must be administered in accurate doses. In the case of a microporous nipple, the suckling of the infant will collapse the nipple and not allow the infant to ingest a complete dosage.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a reservoir type pacifier which may be easily and accurately filled with a specific dosage of medicine.
It is another object of this invention to provide a pacifier of the aforesaid nature which will alternatively accommodate a prepackaged unit dosage of medication.
It is a yet another object of the present invention to provide a pacifier of the aforesaid nature which will not collapse due to the suckling of an infant.
It is a further object of this invention to provide a pacifier of the aforesaid nature amenable to easy cleaning and sterilization.
These objects and other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following description.